Edwards Eagle River Restoration Project

The Watershed Council collaborated with Public Access TV 5 to produce this wonderful video highlighting the successful Edwards Eagle River Restoration Project! Illustrative before & after footage, great music, & some wildlife shots make this an excellent way to wrap up the project!

How did we select the Edwards area for restoration?

The Eagle River Watershed Council spearheaded a broad research project led by Colorado State University in 2003: The Eagle River Inventory and Assessment. The Edwards/Lake Creek segment of the Eagle River was identified through this research as a high priority segment of the river corridor with good water quality but with substantially degraded riparian habitat. This provides the best available opportunity in the Eagle River watershed to reconnect existing high quality habitats and reestablish wetland and riparian functions on a disproportionately large scale. This research was designed to be a non-biased, science based tool for the community and funding partners to use when making decisions about where limited resources should be spent to get the most ecological bang for the buck in the Eagle River watershed.

Location

The Edwards Eagle River Restoration entire project site is roughly 1.6 miles long covering an area of 168 acres. The project site begins about one-half mile downstream of the Edwards bridge and ends at the Hillcrest Drive bridge. Restoration, enhancement and protection is proposed on both north and south banks, in the river channel as well as within the floodplain. As in all river projects, our most important partners are the landowners. All restoration work has been coordinated with the approval and support of all landowners in the reach.

Why is this segment of the river the most important to restore in our watershed?

The Edwards reach of the Eagle River main stem contains areas of poor quality aquatic habitat, which effectively disconnects high quality riparian and aquatic habitats that are present upstream and downstream. Channel conditions and aquatic habitat have been degraded by past agricultural land use practices coupled with increasing development linked with non-point source pollution supply. The most significant impacts are from fine sedimentation, livestock grazing and denuded riparian vegetation. In this lowest gradient reach of the Eagle River, the channel is unable to mobilize the excessive sedimentation. As a result the channel has local aggradation zones, which are areas where built-up sediment has raised the riverbed, and problems with channel widening, which increases the width to depth ratio and decreases habitat value. The fine sediment has been identified as significant habitat for the tubifex worm, a prime vector for whirling disease. Further, large quantities of silt have been deposited throughout this stretch, reducing insect populations and trout hiding cover.

Goals and Objectives

The overall goal of the Edwards Restoration Project is to improve habitat and function in the Edwards reach of the Eagle River and its floodplain. Restoration goals and the specific objectives designed to achieve the goals are listed below.
Reduce the overly high instream temperatures and raise dissolved oxygen levels during summer months